Top pairings

Beer and Cheese: my 5 favourite pairings

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on July 14 2013 at 07:26

Beer blogger Steve Lamond has been matching beer and cheese for the past seven years and has compiled an invaluable guide on his blog Beers I’ve Known. Hare are his 5 all-time favourites which include some cracking combinations.

Fiona asked me if I’d like to do a guest post on beer and cheese pairings. Never being one to eschew blathering on about my two favourite topics I of course said yes. I’ve chosen my top five pairings. I’m not saying they’re the best in existence but they’re the five that have most impressed me over the years.

I’ve not tried to put them in any order as that would be just too hard! Note that all of my favourites are British cheeses and unpasteurised (with the exception of the Colston Bassett) highlighting what fantastic producers of both beer and cheese we have in this country. Most of the beers should be readily available within the UK, but alternative beers have been suggested in case of difficulty (or if you want to try more than one beer!)

Bristol Beer Factory Hefe and Fresh Ragstone Goats Cheese

This pairing was tasted at Fiona’s own Cheese School and just really worked. The creamy lemon in the cheese complemented the wheat spice and yeast clove esters in this Hefeweizen beer. A light carbonation to titivate rather than scrub the tongue. A great lunchtime pairing.

Alternatives: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissebier, Schneider Weisse

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Tags: barley wine saison bitter porter weissbier drink:beer & cider cheddar Stinking Bishop Red Leicester goats cheese Stilton cheese

Comments: 4 (Add)

fluffles on July 19 2012 at 09:36

Hi,
Nice article I will give some of these a try. I had previously been sceptical about beer and cheese matching as I had never come across anything that truly worked. However, I then stumbled across a brilliant pairing that changed my mind. Give it a try... Manchego cheese with a Penpont Porter (from Cornwall). Truly excellent combination, and I expect you could substitute any hard sheeps milk cheese (e.g. British Berkswell) and any other similar chocolatey stout.

Fiona Beckett on July 4 2012 at 08:21

And wine styles too! Cheers, Martyn - thanks for the tips!

Steve on July 3 2012 at 11:27

Cheers for the comment Martyn.
I can see how cambazola would work with the wheat, brie, etc are good so I'll give it a go!

Aged gouda, like cheddar, is one of those cheeses that work with any number of beer styles.

Martyn Cornell on July 3 2012 at 09:35

Fuller's Vintage also works brilliantly with well-aged Gouda. And for something completely different, try hefeweize with Cambozola - Cambozola is not a great cheese, but it makes a great combination with wheat beer.

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